


Choice

by Dimensional_Nexus



Series: Shards in the Nexus [2]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29985870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimensional_Nexus/pseuds/Dimensional_Nexus
Summary: "Laura, I can help you, but you have to decide. Live or die?"Part of a collection of story ideas.
Series: Shards in the Nexus [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205714





	Choice

"Laura are you sure about this?" LaFontaine asked, head moving wildly as they tried to spot any possible threat through the dense woods. 

"No, but if the Dean wiped this building off the map, maybe this is where she's keeping the missing girls." It's not that Laura didn't understand their concerns, it did seem more than a little insane to be walking through the forest surrounding Silas in the middle of the night heading towards a building they had found on the school's original plans. That it was just the two of them probably wasn't all that intelligent either. LaF had wanted to call Danny, but the tall redhead had royally pissed Laura off with her overprotectiveness. Her glare when LaF had suggested it said all that needed to be said, really.

"I guess, but I still think we're throwing ourselves headfirst over the line from brave to stupid."

Laura didn't reply, and privately kind of agreed, but she was determined to find her roommate. Betty had been a good friend for the two weeks they had known one another. At least they hadn't tried to give her another roommate, she probably would have bitten their head off. The trees began to thin out and they eventually came upon a nondescript shack, bathed in moonlight in the center of a small clearing. "Okay, LaF, you keep watch. Yell if you see or hear anything."

"Wait, we're splitting up? Isn't that, like, mistake number one?"

"Well, probably, but it's only the two of us and I'd rather not have anyone get the drop on us."

"Fair point. Fine, I'll stay out here, but be careful. There's no telling what kind of crazy is in there."

"I know." Laura walked to the door and reached slowly for the handle. She stayed standing there for a full minute, until LaF gave a little cough. She shot them a sheepish smile before carefully opening the door.

There was nothing inside.

She moved into the empty space, leaving the door partially open, and stared around in disbelief. This made no sense. Why would the building have been erased from the campus map if there was nothing here? Looking around, she noticed something else that didn't fit. The building was relatively well kept and in good repair. She groaned at yet another conundrum when she literally tripped over the answer. Even with the beam of her flashlight, she hadn't noticed the matte black ring on the floor at first. With a cry of triumph, she set aside the flashlight and gave a hard tug on the handle. It took every ounce of muscle she had, but she finally opened the trap door, all sense of victory dying at the pitch black that waited below. She picked up her flashlight and gasped as the beam was consumed by the dark.

Shaking off the terror that gripped her heart, she crouched and slowly lowered a hand into the open space. Her entire body shivered at the freezing temperature within the dark, but she gritted her teeth and pushed on...another inch before finding what she assumed was the top step of a staircase. Wondering, not for the first time, if she really was a little insane, she began to descend the stairs, carefully feeling for the edge with her foot each time. It felt like she had fallen through the ice into a frozen pond. She wrapped her arms around her middle and clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. It took her almost fifteen minutes to find the bottom of the stairs. She found the wall with a hand and hugged it as the unnatural dark still wrapped around her. Another ten minutes of picking her way down a straight hallway, she was nearly blinded as a pair of torches ignited themselves on either side of a door at the end.

"Laura! You okay down there?" LaF's voice called, making her jump.

"Yeah, I'm good," she shouted back, taking a deep breath to calm down. Breathing had seemed more difficult in the unnatural darkness, and she was glad to be rid of it. The door in front of her was thick and wooden. There was no handle, so she gave it a push, surprised when it swung open easily. More torches self-ignited in the small room beyond. It was barely bigger than a prison cell. In the center was a large, stone coffin, itself in the center of a strange pattern drawn on the ground in what she really hoped wasn't blood. She cautiously stepped closer, her curiosity overpowering her better judgment. The coffin itself was also adorned with strange carvings and runes, none of which she could read. What she _could_ make out was a name inscribed on the lid, "Mircalla." So, the Dean was hiding a...person? Hmm, maybe it was a tomb for someone the Dean cared for? She looked at the runes and the sigil most definitely drawn in blood, and decided against that. Maybe this Mircalla was an enemy, someone who could help stop the Dean. She paced the small room as she weighed her options. One the one hand, this was a terrible idea and, on the other, it was still a terrible idea but might work out in the end. "To heck with it," she whispered and planted her feet, positioning her hands on the lid. She took a deep breath, prayed to anyone listening, and gave a hard shove. It barely moved, but she wasn't going to give up now. She kept pushing and pushing until finally the lid was at an angle and she could see inside. Within was a beautiful, pale brunette, clad in a simple white dress. She stared at the woman, wondering if she was still alive.

Her answer came in the form of the woman's eyes snapping open.

She barely registered that they were blood red before she was on her back and a piercing pain shot through her body.

* * *

Carmilla slowly regained true consciousness. Her mind and vision clearing as the blood flowed past her lips. _Blood?_ She pulled back and stared in horror at the small blonde she was straddling. The side of the girl's throat was practically torn out and her eyes stared stunned at the vampire atop her. _No, no, no..._ she repeated the word as a mantra. Here she was, finally free of whatever imprisonment her Mother had inflicted upon her and the first thing she'd done was kill her rescuer. "Laura, Laura, please don't die." _Laura? How do I-?_ A rush of images flashed in her mind. A jovial man with a loving smile, the cold feel of a tombstone beneath her hand, a small building amidst a dark forest. _What is happening? I've never..._ Another memory hit her, this one her own.

_She was weak, barely clinging to life, a pale, angelic face hovering over her._

_"Mircalla, if I could give you the chance to live, would you take it?"_

_Her voice was barely a whisper, "I don't understand."_

_"Time is short, I need you to answer. To live as...something else or die as you are."_

_"I don't want to die."_

_"But are you prepared to live as something more?"_

_"Yes." A sharp pain in her neck, something warm flowing past her lips._

_"Sleep, young one, and when you wake, I shall explain everything."_

Laura coughed, a few drops of blood splattering across Carmilla's already stained cheeks. Mother had always told them that only she held the secrets of immortality, that she, and she alone, would pull those who she deemed worthy back from the jaws of death, but the memory had felt too real to be some kind of hopeful delusion. She looked at the dying girl again. If it didn't work, it didn't work, but she had to try. She moved to slit a wrist, but paused, something telling her that the consent hadn't been a mere courtesy, but a necessity. She opened her mouth and rasped, "Laura, I can help you, but you have to decide. Live or die?"

The girl's voice was barely more than forced air, "What?"

"I can make you like me, but I need you to make that choice."

"Like," _cough_ , "you?"

"A vampire."

For a moment, terror gripped Carmilla's heart as she didn't respond, her eyes going a little glassy. Then her jaw was working again, having difficulty speaking now. "Y-y-essssss," her voice trailed off in a hiss and Carmilla felt herself being to panic. Uncaring of any damage to her self, she tore open her wrist and pressed it to Laura's lips, making sure the blood found its way down her throat. Not knowing how much was needed, she gave as much as she could stand before pulling back.

"Laura?" a voice called from down a hallway she could see through the still-open door. Carmilla sat next to Laura, unsure of what to do, if she should respond and explain. It was unlikely whoever was up there would hear her out, but, she looked at the now-unconscious girl, she owed it to her to try. Lifting Laura into her arms, she walked down the hallway and up the stairs. "What the fuck?" Carmilla looked at the redhead stumbling and falling back out the door. LaFontaine was their name, she knew. She had seen them in Laura's memories. She didn't know what to say. Couldn't find the words to articulate what had happened, or how deeply apologetic she was.

"I'm sorry," was all she could think of.

"What the hell did you do?" LaFontaine thundered, shock transforming very quickly into rage.

"She opened the tomb I was sealed in. I have been starving for nearly a century, I only really came to when she was already dying," Carmilla replied, sorrow coloring her tone. "When I had already..."she trailed off, setting Laura softly on the ground and stepping away. LaFontaine was at her side in a flash, fingers pressed to the side of her throat.

"Dammit, Laura, I told you this was a bad idea," LaFontaine muttered to themselves as they sat down next to their friend, feeling useless. "She's gone. Fuck."

They sat in silence, LaFontaine trying hard not to break down, and convinced that the vampire was just watching to enjoy the moment before they were next. Carmilla just stared at Laura, hoping against hope that her memory had been accurate. She was also sifting through a lot of conflicting information in her mind. She suddenly remembered the night she had been turned in two very different ways. One, the one she had believed for most of her life, featured her Mother in her usual role. The other starred the woman she had seen earlier, charming her on the dance floor and talking with her through the night until they had been interrupted by her father and apparent groom-to-be. The two had pulled her into an adjoining room and revealed the engagement to her. The ensuing intense argument had resulted in one losing their temper and very nearly beating her to death before the woman had torn both to literal pieces. She couldn't remember her name, but she remembered pieces of the time they spent together, before Mother had killed her and taken the young Mircalla as her own. It was a troubling disconnect, and was giving her quite the headache.

_thump-thump_

The sound of a weak heartbeat pulsed in her ears like thunder. She sat on Laura's other side. Both she and LaFontaine watched, disbelieving, as the wound on her throat began to close.

"What did you do?" LaFontaine asked.

"I gave her a choice. She didn't want to die." Carmilla kept her tone even, trying not to betray how uncertain and miserable she had been. She had vowed to herself as she was sealed away that, if she were to be freed, there would never be another Ell. Never again would she be responsible for the ignoble death of a young woman who didn't deserve such a cruel fate. It was almost as if Mother had planned it, that she would come so close to breaking that promise within seconds of being released.

"So you made her a vampire?"

"Yes."

* * *

_Ugh, someone get the number of that truck?_ Laura thought, struggling to wake up. Her eyes blinked open slowly and she saw LaF leaning over her looking teary-eyed. "LaF, what happened?"

"You, uh, kinda...died...a bit."

Laura just gaped at her friend for a second before she caught sight of the woman from the coffin out of the corner of her eye. Everything came flooding back, and she looked at the woman for a second, "Why did you save me?"

She remained silent for a moment before murmuring, "I didn't want my first act as a free woman to be murder."

Laura thought on that for a second, not sure if she was being told the whole truth, but not wanting to push too hard, lest the woman vanish and leave her with no answers and no idea what to expect, "So, what, I'm a vampire now?"

"Yeah, check it out," LaF pulled up their phone to let Laura see herself in the camera. Her skin was paler than usual and her eyes were now the same red as the woman's. She opened her mouth, and caught sight of elongated canines.

"Holy crap," she sighed, "I guess this is what I get for poking around dangerous areas after dark."

"I told you so."

"I'm sorry, LaF, it just as easily could have been you. I should have just sucked it up and asked Danny."

"Damn right. Did you find anything down there besides a heap of trouble?" They motioned towards the other vampire, who rolled her eyes.

"Nope, there were a bunch of runes and sigils and stuff that make me think she was sealed in."

"Really? I'll go take a look." Before anyone could say another word, they took off into the shack, no doubt to take samples and poke their nose into every available corner.

"Soooo..." Laura trailed off, not sure what to say.

"I'm sorry," the woman moved in close, taking her hand and meeting her eyes, her body language pleading and contrite.

"It's alright, I'm the one who did the dumb thing and opened up a strange coffin in the middle of the woods buried under a building wiped off the map by our evil Dean. You know, when you say it out loud like that, one could make a case for me having a death wish or something."

The woman smiled at her rambling, "I know why you came out here, Laura, and it wasn't a death wish. You have a good heart."

"Wha-how do you know my name?"

"When I drank from you, it was like I was seeing your life through your eyes. It does leave us on uneven footing, since the same doesn't seem to have happened for you after drinking from me. I'm Carmilla."

"Whoa, so you saw, like, everything?" She paused to reconsider, "Oh God, you saw everything. If you tell anyone about the first time I tried alcohol, I will _end_ you."

Calling up the appropriate memory, Carmilla broke down in a fit of laughter. At Laura's pout, she laughed even harder, "The scrunched up face is adorable...Creampuff."

"Not. One. Word."

"Is it all confectionery you have a fetish for, or just those?"

Laura's pout deepened, "You're mean."

"I aim to please."


End file.
